I think my girlfriend would be the first to admit she is not the most active of girls so I was most surprised when she suggested going hiking last Sunday up in Saitama. Tobu Takezawa station is about an hour away from where we live and, having got off in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, we then had to walk for about 10-15 minutes just to find the hiking course which would eventually take us to Ogawamachi station by way of a scenic mountain hike.

It ultimately took us about four hours to do. A lot of work you may think just for a mountain that stands at 350 metres high but as with all mountains it’s the achievement of getting there which is most important in my opinion. Of course, the hot and humid summer heat didn’t do anything to make it any easier.

Back at street level, we came across this beer vending machine (below) which is something I haven’t seen for years and this one even included the mega-sized ones. A rewarding refreshment for our exercise that day!